Kelly said an error on the tax rate applied to property in Kure Beach led to residents being overcharged by $29,086. Kelly said new tax bills should go out tomorrow.

The county says the original bills used a tax rate of 16.5 percent instead of the actual town tax rate of 16.25 percent. The mistake affected 2,445 properties. It will cost the county 45 cents per property to fix the error.

This is not the first time the New Hanover County Tax Office has made a large-scale mistake. In January 2008, the county revealed tax-exempt property had not been removed from the county's property revaluation. That mistake significantly overstated the county's tax value. It led the county and its municipalities to readjust revenue and spending, including significant budget cuts.

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Do you mean the same private sector where AIG was insane enough to insure a trillion dollars in crappy mortgages? They took a federal bailout and hired Sheryl Crow to perform at the party where they handed out bonuses to the idiots who helped causes the financial disaster. Enron, Arthur Anderson, Lehman Brothers...the same human beings who make up the public sector screw up the private sector. The geniuses who work for BP and Halyburton drilled a big hole in the bottom of the ocean that spewed uncontrolled oil for months. Medical mistakes kill upwards of 200,000 people per year and those are mostly private sector doctors and nurses. I've worked in government and the private sector and saw the same amount of incompetence in both.

You know, when I screw up, as a small business owner, I either make it right out of my own pocket or get sued. Why is this person not held to the same criteria? Kelly makes almost 100k a year plus benefits. Mr. Kelly, what is my recourse with your negligence? We should away with the whole unfair tax system and go towards a value added tax in this county????

"my bad!" Maybe the County should make him pay for the extra envelopes, revised tax bills, and postage out of his salary. After all, he said "this falls on my shoulders."...and should "fall out of his wallet as well." for the cost of sending the revised bills.